List of US Senators, Religion? Options

[Kato]

List of current United States Senators

This page lists the current US Senators in a table. The list includes name, party, term details and so on as one would expect. But the list also prominently includes Religion???

So we learn that one Senator is a Presbyterian, one a Methodist, a few are Mormons etc etc.

Since when were US politicians prominently defined by their views of the Spirit World?

[Doc glasgow]

List of current United States Senators

This page lists the current US Senators in a table. The list includes name, party, term details and so on as one would expect. But the list also prominently includes Religion???

So we learn that one Senator is a Presbyterian, one a Methodist, a few are Mormons etc etc.

Since when were US politicians prominently defined by their views of the Spirit World?

Since when were they known for their education either?

[lilburne]

Gotta tag them all, gotta tag them all, gotta tag them all, oops missed one, gotta tag them all, gotta tag them all ...

[Silver seren]

Removed religion from the article. There was already a talk page consensus for it anyways.

[Kelly Martin]

Since when were US politicians prominently defined by their views of the Spirit World?

To be fair, a majority of voters in the US probably do consider religion when voting.

[Piperdown]

List of current United States Senators

Since when were US politicians prominently defined by their views of the Spirit World?

For over 200 years. Not a pretty sight. You must have missed the last 4 years of "Obama's a Muslim!" nonsense and the JFK 1960 election, where a large % of Americans voted for Sweaty Dick because JFK was an agent of Rome.

You don't see outed atheists/agnostics ever try to run for higher office in any except the most hippy districts. This has been getting worse since Ronnie "Bonzo" Reagan was elected in the great 1980 Hippie Backlash.

Mormons? Wonderful people. Their god help them when the whisper campaigners, tired of the Obama Muslim bit, turn around on their own during Republican primaries and snipe at Mitt's church being based on Jesus visiting Native American Indians on the down low, and Sneaky Joe Smith playing hide the tablets when it came time for sunday school show and tell. At least Moses stormed down the mountain and let his freak flag fly in front of the entire tribe.

Still waiting for 1st Scientologist to run for Sen/Prez. Cirt will blow his last functioning brain cell. Or even an muslim candidate. Although Palin Junior said she dabbled in Wiccanry in those naughty 90's....

This post has been edited by Piperdown: Wed 15th June 2011, 4:03pm

[gomi]

Since when were US politicians prominently defined by their views of the Spirit World?

Piperdown is right, since forever. I remember as a teenager, looking at some list of Presidents and noting that Richard Nixon, of all people, was a Quaker. A "Reform Quaker", if memory serves, which I suppose is the kind of Quaker that can bomb Cambodia, somewhat more pernicious than, say a Reform Jew who loves Angles on Horseback (T-H-L-K-D). Why are there no "Reform Catholics"? I guess they're Atheists. But I digress.

Kato, while it is a perhaps uniquely American habit to judge the religiosity of our politicians, a throwback to our Puritan forebears, surely you haven't forgotten the palaver over whether Tony Blair (T-H-L-K-D) was secretly Catholic? And the "I told you so"s in some circles when, shortly after he stepped down as PM, when he in fact converted to Catholicism. For those who don't follow the minutia of Brit politics, had he been Catholic at his ascendance to Prime Minister or during his term there would have been a major crisis. British PMs must be CoE. How's that for "concern about views of the spirit world"?

[lilburne]

Benjamin Disraeli

[Doc glasgow]

Benjamin Disraeli

Benjamin Disraeli was CofE.


However, most British PMs are NOT CofE

Gordon Brown - Church of Scotland

Thatcher - Methodist?

Anthony Eden - Catholic/Atheist

Attlee - Agnostic

Harold Wilson - Congregationalist/Methodism

Alec Douglas-Home - Scottish Episcopalian

Churchill - Nominally Anglican but "I believe that death is the end,"

Lloyd George was Welsh non-conformist

[lilburne]

Benjamin Disraeli

Benjamin Disraeli was CofE.

Try arguing that with bus stop et al.

[Milton Roe]

Churchill - Nominally Anglican but "I believe that death is the end,"

And many Anglicans (and Episcopalians over here) have hoped for that, as well.

[Cedric]

List of current United States Senators

Since when were US politicians prominently defined by their views of the Spirit World?

For over 200 years. Not a pretty sight. You must have missed the last 4 years of "Obama's a Muslim!" nonsense and the JFK 1960 election, where a large % of Americans voted for Sweaty Dick because JFK was an agent of Rome.

Close, but not quite. The first six Presidents were not only wholly English by blood, but all were also essentially Deist. The famous painting of Washington praying in the forest near Valley Forge is entirely a 19th century fantasy. There have been a great many Protestant pastors that have tried to co-opt these men, with the notable exception of Jefferson, but it is all a revisionist fantasy that does not take into account the strong distaste for established religion that existed in the late 18th century. Accordingly, Andrew Jackson was the first Christian President of the US (C of S). Even Jackson said of Thomas Paine, a very outspoken Deist and critic of religion, that the United States of America was his eternal monument.

[Kato]

Kato, while it is a perhaps uniquely American habit to judge the religiosity of our politicians, a throwback to our Puritan forebears, surely you haven't forgotten the palaver over whether Tony Blair (T-H-L-K-D) was secretly Catholic? And the "I told you so"s in some circles when, shortly after he stepped down as PM, when he in fact converted to Catholicism. For those who don't follow the minutia of Brit politics, had he been Catholic at his ascendance to Prime Minister or during his term there would have been a major crisis. British PMs must be CoE. How's that for "concern about views of the spirit world"?

I don't remember any palaver over whether Blair was secretly a Catholic, to be honest. I could see it would be of interest regarding negotiations in Northern Ireland but can't imagine it creating a big crisis in Britain.

A google search throws up a couple of small articles written over a year after Blair left office, but that's about it.

PMs don't have to be CofE at all. Gordon Brown wasn't. Thatcher wasn't. Nor was Harold Wilson.

Michael Howard, who opposed Blair in the 2005 election was Jewish. Current PM Cameron is a nominal CofE I believe, but says his policies are "not faith-driven". The other party leaders are declared atheists, including deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg.

[Versa]

Benjamin Disraeli

A book that I own has this quotation which seems especially fitting at this time:

"Sir,
My great-grandfather, to show his contempt for Benjamin Disraeli, devoured seven pork chops in succession when he was 105 years of age. Those were indeed the days of robust and sincere politics."

I'll look up the author of the quotation later as for some reason the quotation is not searchable with google.

[gomi]

Benjamin Disraeli

Benjamin Disraeli was CofE. However, most British PMs are NOT CofE

Gordon Brown - Church of Scotland
Thatcher - Methodist?
Anthony Eden - Catholic/Atheist
Attlee - Agnostic
Harold Wilson - Congregationalist/Methodism
Alec Douglas-Home - Scottish Episcopalian
Churchill - Nominally Anglican but "I believe that death is the end,"
Lloyd George was Welsh non-conformist

From an unnamed and probably unreliable source (other than Wikipedia), but still mostly correct:

There is no legal bar to the election of a non-Anglican British Prime Minister, but it would be constitutionally awkward, as the PM's has a role in appointing senior members of the Church of England. Theoretically the Queen has the ultimate power in making Church of England appointments, but she acts on the advice of the prime minister. The Roman Catholic Relief Act of 1829, sect. 17, and the Jews' Relief Act of 1858, sec 4, prohibit Roman Catholics or Jews from advising the Queen on CoE matters. Were the PM to be a Roman Catholic or a Jew an alternate system of appointment would need to be devised. To date, all British Prime Ministers, while in office, have professed Anglican faith. Disraeli, while born into a Jewish family, was baptized into the CoE at age 12 and Tony Blair waited until after he left office to officially convert to Catholicism. Gordon Brown did not 'profess the Anglican faith', as his father was a Church of Scotland minister, but the CoS is considered to be so close to the CoE as to not present a problem.

[Doc glasgow]

Benjamin Disraeli

Benjamin Disraeli was CofE. However, most British PMs are NOT CofE

Gordon Brown - Church of Scotland
Thatcher - Methodist?
Anthony Eden - Catholic/Atheist
Attlee - Agnostic
Harold Wilson - Congregationalist/Methodism
Alec Douglas-Home - Scottish Episcopalian
Churchill - Nominally Anglican but "I believe that death is the end,"
Lloyd George was Welsh non-conformist

From an unnamed and probably unreliable source (other than Wikipedia), but still mostly correct:

There is no legal bar to the election of a non-Anglican British Prime Minister, but it would be constitutionally awkward, as the PM's has a role in appointing senior members of the Church of England. Theoretically the Queen has the ultimate power in making Church of England appointments, but she acts on the advice of the prime minister. The Roman Catholic Relief Act of 1829, sect. 17, and the Jews' Relief Act of 1858, sec 4, prohibit Roman Catholics or Jews from advising the Queen on CoE matters. Were the PM to be a Roman Catholic or a Jew an alternate system of appointment would need to be devised. To date, all British Prime Ministers, while in office, have professed Anglican faith. Disraeli, while born into a Jewish family, was baptized into the CoE at age 12 and Tony Blair waited until after he left office to officially convert to Catholicism. Gordon Brown did not 'profess the Anglican faith', as his father was a Church of Scotland minister, but the CoS is considered to be so close to the CoE as to not present a problem.

Your source is patently wrong about it being constitutionally awkward for the PM to be a non-Anglican - since many non-Anglicans have been PM. There are, for historical reasons, particular restrictions on Roman Catholics and the 1829 Act does say: "Provided always, that where any right of presentation to any ecclesiastical benefice shall belong to any office in the gift or appointment of his Majesty, and such office shall be held by a person professing the Roman Catholic religion, the right of presentation shall devolve upon and be exercised by the archbishop of Canterbury for the time being." Which means an "alternate system of appointment" would NOT need to be devised, since the Act itself provides one. Ironically, a Buddhist Prime Minister would still be perfectly suitable to make CofE appointments.

In practice, however, the PM only asks the Church Appointment commission for one name - so the thing is rather irrelevant.

This post has been edited by Doc glasgow: Wed 15th June 2011, 11:31pm

[gomi]

"After 30 years as a closet Catholic, Blair finally puts faith before politics" The Grauniad

"Blair, a Regular at Mass, Is Now Catholic" New York Times

and perhaps the ultimate "reliable source", the UK House of Commons Librarian, in the wonderfully titled "Parliament and religious disabilities, Standard Note: SN/PC/1493":

While there is no longer a statutory bar on Roman Catholics becoming Prime Minister, there would be similar issues relating to the advice on ecclesiastical preferment that is given by the Prime Minister to the Crown. Special arrangements would have to be made to ensure that he or she did not advise the Crown directly or indirectly on Church of England appointments, doing which under the 1829 Roman Catholic Relief Act remains a “high misdemeanour”. This Act does not, of course, apply to Prime Ministers who are Protestant nonconformists, though in all probability similar arrangements would be made. Unlike the case of the Lord Chancellor, no clarifying legislation exists, but in a similar fashion, this particular aspect of Prime Ministerial duties could be delegated to another Minister.

All Prime Ministers to date have been Protestants. Disraeli was born into the Jewish faith but was baptised into the Church of England at the age of twelve. The majority of Prime Ministers, including the current one, Tony Blair, have been Anglicans, and Bute was a Scottish Episcopalian. Balfour and Campbell-Bannerman belonged to the Church of Scotland; and Bonar Law and MacDonald were also Presbyterians. Shelburne was a dissenter; Lloyd George and Callaghan were Baptists; Grafton and Chamberlain Unitarians (though Grafton was an Anglican during his tenure as PM16); Wilson was a Congregationalist and Thatcher a Methodist.

Enough there to satisfy everyone, no doubt.

[lilburne]

"After 30 years as a closet Catholic, Blair finally puts faith before politics" The Grauniad

"Blair, a Regular at Mass, Is Now Catholic" New York Times

This is just the type of stupid crap they have on WP. No one, outside of the sectarian gobshites in NI gives a fuck about it. It is never an issue in elections, either general, nor for party leaders. All this stuff in the grauniad and nyt is talking media heads filling space. Some researcher has discovered X and said "oh that's cute" and they've run a couple of column inches on it. Think of it as the walnut in the toe of your xmas stocking. To the rest of the world it is one big yawn, and if it ever needs sorting they'll alter it by some order in council or other fixer.

This post has been edited by lilburne: Thu 16th June 2011, 9:40am

[A Horse With No Name]

For over 200 years. Not a pretty sight. You must have missed the last 4 years of "Obama's a Muslim!" nonsense and the JFK 1960 election, where a large % of Americans voted for Sweaty Dick because JFK was an agent of Rome.

Don't forget the anti-Catholic sentiment against Al Smith in 1928 and the negative 1964 sentiments about Barry Goldwater's Jewish roots or his running mate William Miller's Catholicism.

At least Eisenhower was able to get beyond his upbringing within the Jehovah's Witness sect.

[Milton Roe]

At least Eisenhower was able to get beyond his upbringing within the Jehovah's Witness sect.

LOL. Not much chance of that hurting him. I'm sure any voters who found out rightly figured that the Supreme Alllied Commander who planned Normandy had probably gotten beyond any early JW ideas about war, military service, flag saluting, and all the rest. Ike really made a better Presbyterian, for sure.

I'm reading Crucade in Europe at the moment, in fact. One thing about Ike-- when it comes to writing he's no Churchill.

I'm still half-convinced he left the stupid little Cuba invasion plan as a boobytrap for JFK. Who played the booby there rather well.